Clemons is on a 1 year contract... Richard Marshall has been released. I recognize that over 4 mil is waaayyy too much money for a backup DB, but he would have been far far better than anything else we have at backup safety. Jimmy Wilson: I can't begin to understand what his supporters see in him. Every time I key in on him he hitting more of our players than the opponents. He is just all over the place running amok and accomplishing nothing. He is as clueless on a football field as anybody I've seen. I have 0 confidence in his adequacy if we lose one of the starters to injury. IMO he offers nothing as future value to the team. I have seen a thousand posts talking about how great Kelcie McCray could be but I haven't seen it. Wow, Kovacs is slow. Our LB's are better in pursuit from sideline to sideline than him. He is just not athletic enough for consideration. Isn't Don Jones destined for the practice squad at best? Why didn't we draft Shamarko Thomas? I seriously doubt Marshall will return for less. I think the 49ers will find some money and bring him in. The Super Bowl lure is a potent negotiator. Do we have the answer in house?
We had one of the worst secondaries in the NFL last season, I don't think anyone believes one offseason season fixed that completely. Yes we need more DB's.
Scatter thoughts. Here I will scare you some more. We got roughly 8-9 free agent starters next year. Clearing Marshall now means we might be able to sign 2-3 of them or their replacements next season.
So what your saying is if our starters go down we are weak at the position? Well...yeah. That's true of all 32 teams
No, it isn't. That line of thinking is becoming very popular on this board. It just isn't true. There are a lot NFL teams that are having real competition among talented players for the starting safety jobs. In fact, I believe there a couple teams out there, and maybe more where a veteran is going to start but the backup might be actually better. The Dolphins have an enormous gap between Clemons and Jones and their backups,, whoever they are right now.
Not at every position they don't. Yes, our backup safeties are weak. Other teams would kill for our dl depth though. Hell, I'd argue cb is actually pretty deep even with the cut. Wrs got a lot of talent too. All your backups can't be starters...
of course there is a huge gap behind jones and clemons, when you are the 3rd best rated safety and i think 9th best rated safety in the league.....there will be a drop off
People need something to complain about. Last year this time the argument was "we don't have starting safeties". Now we have coached up the players we had in place and now people are complaining about the backups. The problem we as dolphins fans have, is it has been so long since we have had coaches in place that can do their job and turn young talent into NFL starters, that we have forgotten that is the way it is supposed to work. I think we now have that, at least on defense. Let the coaches coach and the young players we draft turn into starters of tomorrow. Jones and Clemons were young talent just a few years ago, now they are solid starters. The guys we drafted this year will follow in their footsteps. It took Chris and Reshad a few years, and it will these guys also. Be patient, we are headed in the right direction.
That's silly. We don't have a lot of competition at the starting safety spots because we have one the best starting tandems in the league. I'm fairly confident, if we had competition at the safety spots, the narrative would change to, "why can't we have two safeties good enough to win the job outright".
The Chiefs, just off the top of my head, have 3 established starting veteran corners. 2 signed this past off season.
I think we need some better depth..Kelcie doesn't look to good at this point, Kovacs has some instincts..maybe we look for some players to get cut and turn the bottom a bit.
I pushed for Thomas in the draft as well. He's only been kicking *** all over the place. No idea why the Dolphins didn't draft him when they had no extension for Jones and Clemons on a 1 year contract.
Jordan Kovacs is not slow and his sideline to sideline pursuit is actually pretty good. He didn't have a good game against the Texans. That had more to do with mental mistakes though. He got sucked into play action a lot. However, you are correct the Dolphins have a need at free safety next year. And I was also a big fan of Shamarko Thomas. But also D.J. Swearinger (who in case anyone didn't notice, played well against us), Bacarri Rambo, Jon Cyprien, Matt Elam, Phillip Thomas, Josh Evans and Duke Williams. Admittedly, Cyprien and Elam were not available at picks where I might have considered drafting them. Duke Williams was also taken a bit early for my tastes. However, Shamarko, Swearinger, Rambo, Thomas and Evans were all available at spots in the Draft where I would have strongly considered them. This is especially true of Shamarko Thomas, whom I "drafted" in my simul-draft in which I picked players while the Dolphins were on the clock.
Really sorry to bring this up but I feel truth demands it. When was the last time the Dolphins won a playoff game??????? Sorry but remarks like,"relax, be patient, we are on thee right track," just make me sick. You win in the NFL by covering every base possible. You don't just settle for good enough, well you shouldn't. When I look at the depth at OT,LB,and S; it infuriates me. NOT GOOD ENOUGH! 8 and 8 isn't good enough. I think Dolphin fans have been inoculated against greatness by years of horrible mismanagement. When was the last time the Dolphins won a playoff game??
I'd keep an eye on the Giants safeties for cuts. They're deep and have a decision to make between Cooper Taylor and Tyler Sash. I like both of em, particularly Sash who's a very solid backup, imo (pretty good chance they keep the 5th-round rookie Taylor, imo).
It's been nearly 20 years since the Dolphins exited the playoffs gracefully (i.e. not getting blown out).
1. I think it's right to question Chris Clemons (I'm not a big fan, but he's the best we've got) 2. The rest of the OP sounds more like a rant filled with exaggerations than anything else.
You win in the NFL by having a really good quarterback or being really strong at one position or side of the ball. Plenty of teams with HUGE holes make the playoffs and some even win the superbowl.
The truth demands it? That doesn't make sense. What difference does it make when we last made the playoffs in regards to the team that will be on the field at the start of the season? This specific team, with these specific players haven't missed anything. I'm sorry, I'm just real tired of this incessant and irritating drive to temper enthusiasm and hold this current team responsible for mistakes this specific team didn't make. The truth demands that we DON'T hold this team responsible for a team from even last year, let alone 10 years ago.
Really sorry for bringing this up, but I feel the truth demands it. When did any fan *****ing over an over again, or saying relax and let things play out alter the outcome of any games. I mean feel free to get infuriated over things you have no control over, and determine that we're 8-8 before playing a game.
Maaan...I hate to bring this up - LOL but the truth demands it. 8-8 will be a good season for this squad. Ok - don't lynch us - it is what it is.
The last time the Dolphins won a playoff game was in 2000. It was an OT win against the Colts. I think we are due.
Not unless there is a guy who is a BIG step up. Every time we churn the backups our SPecial Teams gets worse and Rizzi has to start from scratch with them again.
I wasn't a fan of Elam. Liked Cyprien from the little I saw of him. Liked Swearinger. At this point, I think we just wait til the draft next year and take a Safety in the top three rounds. Or extend Clemons.
I pushed hard for a S in this last draft as I felt they were a particularly strong class and I saw Clemons as a guy that was upgradable. I saw an opportunity to draft a young S who could be ready to step in if we didn't re-sign Clemons after the season. I don't like our S depth, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it is a position of need this year.
I certainly think Miami could, and probably will, tinker with the guys behind Clemons and Jones. I recall Miami signing Troy Nolan last year after final cuts. They also added Jonathon Amaya and Tyrone Culver later on in the season. I think Jimmy Wilson certainly occupies one roster spot, IMO, you can do better than Kelcie McCray, Jordan Kovacs (now injured, I think), Keelan Johnson (already injured), and Don Jones. After all, Jimmy Wilson's experience is more as a slot CB and special teamer than true safety anyway.
Just looking at some of the more "name" guys that are currently listed as backup safeties that could be in danger of being cut, and you find: Kenny Phillips - Eagles Kurt Coleman - Eagles Tom Nelson - Bears (Was on the Bengals briefly in 2009/10 when Coyle was there and can also play CB) Tom Zbikowski - Bears Winston Guy - Seahawks (Don't think he's a guy in danger though) Taylor Mays - Bengals (Again, familiarity with Coyle) Curtis Taylor - Cardinals Titans Trio - George Wilson, Markelle Martin, and Daimion Stafford.
There is no more frustrating argument than "why didn't we draft...?" We only have so many picks, we can't pick everybody. We had crappy corners and we drafted 2 this past draft. Same thing with people who wonder why we didn't draft a receiver. We signed Wallace and Gibson, re-signed Hartline and also have Matthews, McNutt and Tyms. What else do you want? I swear people look under a microscope to find things to complain about. We can't address every single wrong thing in one offseason. We also have one of the best safeties in the league.
i think it makes perfect sense to look back and question draft picks when your team hasn't topped 7 wins in years
It's not that it's wrong to wonder "what if", but when everyone keeps harping on "what ifs" from 4-5 years ago non stop, it gets annoying.
Like people harp on not drafting Jimmy Graham. Obviously, it would be lovely to have him, but let's not act like we were the only ones to pass on him. Hindsight is a curse is all I'm saying. It's perfectly valid to look through our drafts of recent years and not be impressed, but saying we "should have drafted this guy" after the fact is taking the easy way out.
Is Kerry Rhodes still a fA? Guy was highly rated (top 5) by pff. Is it the rumors about him being gay? Whatever the case, he's worth a look.
sorry dude but I think you need to face facts, the bottom line is if you make enough positive moves to offset mistakes made in free agency and the draft (which every team makes) and put a winning product on the field, then it's a lot easier for fans to accept. and if you pass on a good player for one who's a step below but still pretty good in his own right, that's also forgivable. unfortunately Miami doesn't meet either criteria, we passed on Graham for John Jerry, passed on Gronk for Misi, passed on Randall Cobb and Stevan Ridley for Daniel Thomas, passed on TY Hilton for Egnew, passed on the boatload of talent available at 12 in 2010 to move down and take Jared Odrick....notice a pattern? these are all bad decisions that we haven't been able to overcome. I also have a feeling I'll be adding Josh Kaddu over Marvin Jones to this list of debacles fairly soon...then again, I guess the 5th round was too soon to take a wideout when you've got juggernauts like Hartline, Bess, Naanee, Roberto Wallace, Marlon Moore, and Clyde Gates!
If 8-8 isn't good enough, I am afraid you are going to be SERIOUSLY disappointed this year. Its not depth at OL...its the starters at OL. That should infuriate you. I am willing to live with the DB situation--good at S, good at one CB position, some young players in the mix. But OL is inexcusable.